Fall in Love with Life
by Marlene Laplante

Romance the day before you
Touch the beauty in its smile
Feel each moment so inviting
You’ll want to stay here for a while

In the warm arms of life’s promise
In the freedom of its kiss
You will find what you have searched for
Things that you have truly missed

Feel the passion grow within you
Let your feelings freely flow
Caress the time before you
Release your cares and let them go

Let life be your mistress
or the woman in your life
Or maybe it could be the man
you’ve longed for all your life

Fall into the arms of life
Let your spirit sing
Hold these feelings in your heart
Accept the gifts they bring

Life’s affair could last forever
Through the laughter and the tears
And the happiness it gives you
Will bring joy through all the years

Dusk to Dawn
by Marry Lukeman

The full moom
 Lit the night
With a reflected glow
the mind's
daylight memories.
In early dawn 
When mutted sky
Preceeds the sun.

and fills
those days
Of each moon's fullness

A silent, constant dance
of Ethereal
Visions and Emotions.

That moment of transition
Hardly noticed
By those who wander

These special nights 
In restless solitude.

3 Encounters in 15 Minutes
by Michelle Doege

I.
My entrance into this verdant park,
Trinity Park Square in downtown Toronto
is disturbed by a homeless man
who sits cross-legged on the cement,
leans against the old cold stone
of the Church of the Holy Trinity.
Outstretched arm, cup in hand,
ragged shirt the colour of dirt. He asks:
“Hey miss, can you spare some change?”
Obviously, I can spare some change
but decide to move on.
Drawn to the labyrinth on my left.
Left with his question echoing
in my now stiff body.

II.
A labyrinth – a circular
winding, walking path
with only one entrance,
one way to the centre,
encourages us to shift
from the outside world
to the quiet in ourselves.
I step onto the path,
place one foot slowly
in front of the other.
Walk thoughtfully
weaving,
moving in circles
into the stillness
to the centre of this labyrinth
to the silence in myself.

III.
The burst of light in the Eaton Centre
leaves me blinded to the outside world.
Bright yellow lights and pink neon signs
persuade me to look at Swiss watches,
cell phones, the latest iPod.
Suave models with silky straight hair
entice me to consider a new pair of pants
a sexy new dress, a bust-building bra.
I am dizzy in the middle of this
swirling, twirling around in my head,
back to the labyrinth,
back to walking slowly in circles
back to dropping some change
into the homeless man’s cup.